Hitachi GST buying WD plant
Malaysian media substrate swap
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Number three disk drive manufacturer Hitachi GST is helping out number two supplier Western Digital by buying a media substrate plant it no longer needs.
The plant makes the aluminum disk platters used in hard drives, and it's located in Sarawak, Malaysia. The WD employees there will transfer to a Hitachi GST subsidiary. The price was not disclosed and the transaction is expected to close in a month or so.
The move is part of WD's initiatives to optimise its cost structures, and Hitachi GST's development needs.
The Sarawak facility was gained by Western Digital when it bought Komag a couple of years ago. Now, due to the recession damping hard drive demand down, it no longer needs the manufacturing capacity.
WD has a second media substrate plant in Johor, Malaysia and will consolidate its production there. It also has a third substrate plant in Penang, Malaysia. Any substrate needs these plants can't satisfy will be met by buying product from external suppliers.
It's great that no-one is losing their job with this transaction. ®
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